Universal Children's Day: Stop violence against children

On 20 November 1989, the UN Convention on the rights of the child was adopted with the aim of promoting and protecting the rights of children all over the world. In November 2006, 17 years later, this Convention is almost universally ratified[2]. Yet, paradoxically, children across the world continue to suffer violence[3]. During 2006, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) denounced several situations of such violence. Today we wish to remind everyone that, beyond the more publicised cases, numerous situations of violence against children occur everyday, far from the reach of the media. In order to fight for the defence and the promotion of children’s rights, it is essential to denounce all forms of violence against children, including torture, at all levels.

Even though children of all social origins are concerned by violence, notably in the private sphere, a recent study by OMCT shows that, in particular, poverty is an undeniable root cause of violence. As a result, children coming from disadvantaged social backgrounds are often found to be the most vulnerable. Torture “emerges in societies in which bonds have degraded, where social injustice, marginalisation and unreserved exploitation generate collective violence, both on the part of those who control the State in order to serve their own interests and among the victims who, because of the absence of the space and system required to recognize and protect their rights, resort to violence that ultimately breaks the social contract”[4]. For instance, the study reveals that, in Egypt, police officers arrest and detain children solely on account of their precarious social situation, i.e., being homeless, engaging in begging or due to a disability, not because they have infringed the law[5].

During the course of 2006, OMCT also denounced the inappropriate and repressive solutions which have been applied to children living on the street. In Latin America, children are frequently victims of social cleansing phenomena. In Honduras and Guatemala, for instance, they are summarily executed by private or public agents or paramilitary groups, who are sometimes even recruited by residents. Governments justify these actions by comparing street children to members of the maras[6]. Those responsible enjoy total immunity. An alternative report on Guatemala submitted by OMCT and local Guatemalan NGOs to the UN Committee Against Torture in May 2006 stresses the violence of attacks on children, citing the discovery of the bodies of two children living on the street: Heidy Mariol Ruano, 14 years old, stabbed 76 times and Mario Estuardo Esquivel, headless, whose killers have still not been apprehended[7].

Street children are rarely considered as rights holders and are often targets for severe abuses such as violent arrests. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, OMCT recently denounced the illegal arrest and detention of 220 children, twenty of whom were under the age of five, whose only fault was being too poor to live elsewhere than on the street[8].

Minors in conflict with the law, particularly those deprived of liberty, are often victims of violence which is rarely ever denounced. OMCT’s reports on Benin, Kenya and Chile show that judicial practices almost always lead to the systematic detention of those children instead of alternative solutions to deprivation of liberty. The excessive use of detention increases the poor conditions of detention in many countries. In addition to overcrowding, lack of medical and legal assistance, and deplorable hygiene, a worrying phenomenon is the mixing of children with adults, placing children who have been accused with those who have been convicted, and mixing vulnerable children in need of protection with those in conflict with criminal law. Unfortunately, their rights are rarely taken into consideration since they are seen as delinquents who deserve punishment, not being entitled to any rights.

OMCT militates in favour of those categories of children “who embarrass” or who are ignored in order to ensure their protection and the respect of their rights. In this framework, OMCT deplores the fear or even resistance of some States to accept the creation of a Special Representative to the UN General Secretary on Violence Against Children, despite the fact that the study on Violence Against Children directed by Prof. Sérgio Pinheiro has been widely accepted and conducted in consultation with States. This study makes a clear plea for action by concluding that violence against children can never be justified, whether it is imposed by tradition or meted out for discipline, and that all forms of violence against children can be prevented[9]. OMCT regrets the hypocrisy of States which have on one day together denounced violence against children and on the next, they are unwilling to take concrete measures to fight against it. OMCT calls on all channels of media to raise awareness of this issue and to ask governments to bring to light the action which they have implemented to effectively eradicate violence against children.

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The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is the world’s largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and other forms of violence. Its global network comprises nearly 300 local, national and regional organisations, which share the common goal of eradicating such practices and enabling the respect of human rights for all.

Visit our website: www.omct.org
Contact:
Cécile Trochu Grasso
Children’s Rights Programme
OMCT
P.O. 21 – 8, rue du Vieux Billard
CH- 1211 Geneva – Switzerland
Tel : 0041 (0)22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 (0)22 809 49 29
ct@omct.org

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[1] This day was established across the world by recommendation of the UN General Assembly in Resolution 836 (IX) on 14 December 1954.
[2] Except Somalia and the United States of America, all countries have ratified it.
[3] It was revealed by the Final Report of Professor Sérgio Pinheiro, independent expert in charge of the UN General Secretary’s study on violence against children, presented last October at the General Assembly of the United Nations, A/61/299, available at: www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/English.pdf
[4] Eric Sottas, Opening statement of the International Conference “Poverty, Inequality and Violence: Is there a Human Rights Response” in Geneva 4-6 October 2005.
[5] Poverty, inequality and violence: the economic, social and cultural root causes of violence, including torture: a human rights perspective, a study prepared by OMCT. The chapter on Egypt is available at: part_ii_b_egypt_profile_and_case_studies.pdf .
[6] Maras are different from other stray gangs of children because of their structure (leader/veteran/chief, initiation and promotion rituals), codes of conduct, loyalty and honour as well as their distinctive identity (tattoos, hairdo). Maras are a specific phenomenon from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, which has spread to the United States and Mexico, consisting in the adaptation of gangs formed by Central American immigrants to the gang culture of Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. The word mara comes from the Hindu word mara, which means soul death.
[7] Human rights violations in Guatemala, Alternative report presented to the Committee against torture of the United Nations, /files/2005/09/3070/guatemala_cat36_0406_esp.pdf , soon available as a publication
[8] See urgent appeal OMCT COD 061006/ 061006 EE, only available in French, at: www.omct.org/base.cfm?page=article&num=6304&consol=close&kwrd=OMCT&rows=2&cfid=4521935&cftoken=8596513
[9] Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Independent Expert for the Study of the UN General Secretary on violence against children, speech before the 3rd Committee of the General Assembly, point 63 of the programme : promotion and protection of children’s rights, New York, 11 October 2006.